The planner in me rebelled for April reading. I basically tossed aside my spring tbr and devoured Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series all month! And it was amazing!
I binged the last 5 books of the series, reading one a day for the end of the month because I could not let this obsession continue to take over my life 😂
There’s a chance I might still pick up a couple of the titles off my spring tbr in May. At some point I’ll definitely be reading my next Louise Penny, A Trick of the Light, and my last of Liane Moriarty’s backlist, The Hypnotist’s Love Story, since both are on my 2023 Reading Life Bucket List.
But at the current moment the mood reader in me has taken over so I make no promises.
I’ve also continued my nonfiction book club pick, Already Enough by Lisa Olivera, into May. It’s a hefty one with a lot of amazing insights to absorb. It’s also nice to really take my time processing what comes up personally as I read.
I am hoping to share a summer tbr list soon! Spring is a hard season to plan reading for but summer is a different story. I’m looking forward to catching up on several new releases, picking up a few thrillers as palette cleansers, and finding a great beach read.
April Reading Wrap Up:
By the Season and Reading Format
Spring Reads
- Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy 🎧
- You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle 📖 (also a book club pick)
Immortals After Dark Binge Read
- The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole 📖
- A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Dark Needs at Night’s Edge by Kresley Cole 📖
- Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Untouchable by Kresley Cole 📖🎧 (part of the Deep Kiss of Winter anthology)
- Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Lothaire by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- MacRieve by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Dark Skye by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Sweet Ruin by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Wicked Abyss by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
- Munro by Kresley Cole 📖🎧
Recaps and Reviews
You can find my reviews for Migrations (3 stars), You Deserve Each Other (3 stars), and my ratings for the first 7 Immortals After Dark books in my mid April Reading Recap.
Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole
This paranormal romance series is set in the world of The Lore where every mythical creature you can imagine actually exists. The beginning books take place in a magical version of New Orleans, hidden from but adjacent to the human world. As the series continues, we get to experience other realms and dimensions.
Each book follows a new couple who are fated mates. Often a species where fate is paramount finds themselves paired with another immortal who doesn’t recognize that claim leading to conflict. There are valkyries, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, sorceri, hybrids, and many more immortal beings.
There’s also an overall plot to the series that shows different groups preparing for the next accession. Every 500 years war breaks out between the immortal factions to keep their population in check. Mates are often thrown together and discovered at this volatile time.
As I mentioned in my mid month reading recap, I found two read along podcasts for this series – Fated Mates and Romancing the Monsters. I’ve been loving listening to their discussion as I finish reading each book. It adds another layer, enriching my reading experience!
My Thoughts
Again it’s hard to get into this series in a way that makes sense for those who haven’t read it so I’ll share some general thoughts here and list my star ratings for the second half of the series below.
I hybrid or tandem read every book that I could! I loved the audio version of these. The voices Robert Petkoff gives each character are amazing. They become instantly recognizable as you read further.
As the series continues the world building, characters, and plots all become more complex and in some books a lot darker. Like seriously darker! Which wasn’t always my cup of tea. But even if I didn’t love the main characters (Declan Chase anyone?), many of these books were 4.5-star or higher for their complexity.
The Fated Mates podcast points out how there are 3 smaller series within the overall series and I can totally see that. Within those smaller arcs, most of the stories overlap taking place at the same time. I would love to see Kresley Cole’s murder wall where she’s keeping track of all these threads!
She’s doing so many things in later books, it’s not really possible to compare them to the early books. It’s apples and oranges.
Munro
I do wish I could find more thoughts on the most recent book Munro. The podcast read alongs don’t cover this one and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings. If you’ve read it, please share your reaction in the comments!
It wound up being a 4.5 star for me. However it took a long time for me to get into the story which was a bummer because I loved Munro as a secondary character in past books (especially MacRieve).
Once it picked up (around 65%) it seriously took off! There were so many elements in that last third of the book that I had been hoping to see at some point in the series. And it ended with a huge gasp from me! I can’t wait to see what Kresley Cole comes out with next. Fingers crossed for a publication later this year still!
Star Ratings
5 star
- Pleasure of a Dark Prince – a favorite and an epic adventure romance!
- Lothaire – love to hate the villain Lothaire, but just plain love Ellie!
- MacRieve – such a difficult read but amazing full circle story
- Dark Skye – an unpopular favorite apparently, childhood friends to enemies to lovers
- Wicked Abyss – amazing world building and standout heroine!
4.5 star
- Demon from the Dark – first in a new story arc, surprisingly sweet
- Dreams of a Dark Warrior – prettiest cover but he didn’t grovel enough!
- Sweet Ruin – I appreciate it more after listening to the Fated Mates discussion – it’s Sarah MacLean’s favorite book, possibly ever!
- Munro – that ending – where are we going next!?!?
4 star
- Untouchable – last Wroth brother story, wanted to love it but I found it boring. I didn’t finish it until I got ahold of the audio
My Hopes
Now that I join the mass of fans waiting for the next book release here are some of my hopes!
I heard (on Fated Mates I believe) that Kresley Cole has the series plotted out through Nix’s story. Along with everyone else, I’m almost certain that must be the final story. But I hope we have many more books between now and then! I read in a back of the book interview (in The Warlord Wants Forever) with Kresley Cole that she has at least a dozen more plotted as of 2016. Yes please!
Personally I can’t wait for Furie to return especially now that it’s confirmed who her mate is! I’m also hoping for stories following Balery, Deshazior (I’m wondering if his mate is Cara), Brandr, Natalya, Tera, Thad, Orion, Blace, and maybe even Thad!
Overall Ranking of the Series
Finally it’s time for an overall ranking of the series. I’m going from favorite to least favorite (which is still a 4 star!)
Total star tallies for the series: Top two are 6-star reads, followed by eight 5-star reads, with five 4.5-star, and ending with two 4-star.
Note: My overall ranking of the books don’t include the Dacian additions which I skipped over for now (mostly because I couldn’t get the audio for Shadow’s Claim and I was so eager to get to MacRieve’s story).
- Dark Desires After Dusk
- Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
- Pleasure of a Dark Prince
- Dark Skye
- MacRieve
- Kiss of a Demon King
- Wicked Abyss
- Lothaire
- The Warlord Wants Forever
- No Rest for the Wicked
- Munro
- A Hunger Like No Other
- Sweet Ruin
- Demon from the Dark
- Dreams of a Dark Warrior
- Untouchable
- Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
If you’ve read IAD, I would love to hear what your favorite books are! Otherwise what was your favorite read in April?
2 responses to “April Reading Wrap Up: An Immortals After Dark Binge”
You’re a beast! Wow, that’s a lot of books! 😅 My favorite was The House in the Cerulean Sea.
I was obsessed lol. And having the audiobooks helped. I can’t wait to read that one! I’m so glad you loved it!